Hey everyone, Can anyone give a recommendation for a good professional editing service? I'm looking at a fiction editor, one in sci-fi. I've got a decent one who does $0.021 a word. That buys me editing on structure, plot flow, characterization, tone, and mechanics (grammar, spelling, punctuation against the Chicago Manual of Style). But if anyone knows one that can beat that price, let me know and I can check it out. Thanks!
Is my math correct that if you have a 75,000 word novel the editing fee would be $1,575? I'm sure you can find someone cheaper than that, but you may be sacrificing the services you get.
I'm certain that you can beat that price - but can a cheap service beat the quality of work you're getting? Seriously, editing isn't one of those things you want to save on. Either pay a decent price and get a good editor, as you seem to be doing, or don't pay for one at all. Paying for a bad editor is worse than none, and while a couple hundred dollars is of course cheaper than a couple thousand, but a couple hundred dollars of trash is still trash.
Are you looking for a summary evaluation or line-by-line editing? The latter is more expensive than the former.
The price you quote seems reasonable - I'd urge you not to go too far below that. Much cheaper and there's little chance you'd be getting a decent service for your money. I've worked as a freelance editor. Being paid a decent rate for a project means that I can afford to dedicate sufficient time and attention to it, in order to actually do a good job.
Thanks, @Krishan. Good to hear that I'm getting my money's worth then. That puts my mind a little at ease. And I've gone with this group before, and they did an excellent job. If anyone knows anyone else who also does an excellent job, let me know.
Yes, me too. Would love to have a few leads on anyone you've been happy with. I don't know where to start---Google seems like a crapshoot for something so important. And if they were also less expensive than those listed above that would be great. I understand that I shouldn't skimp, but damn! .21 a word! I have 100,000 words-gulp!
For the moment pushing aside the fact that I'm dubious about paying for editing at all: It seems to me that before committing to .21 a word on such a long manuscript, it might make sense to pay for an edit of a couple of thousand words, to test (1) the editor and (2) the readiness of one's own writing. If the edit uncovers dozens of issues that the author is then able to address in the rest of the manuscript themselves, a lot of wasted money would be avoided.
The OP said $0.021, which is 2.1 cents per word or $210.00 for a 100K ms. That strikes me as being more than reasonable. If, as others are reading it, the fee is $0.21, or 21 cents per word - $2,100 for a 100K ms - that's a bit high. The editor I used charged me $1,850. This covered a phone consultation (her dime) before I submitted the ms, explaining the project (and for her to determine what to charge, which she later informed me via e-mail), a read of the entire ms, another phone conference (her dime) to discuss the work generally as well as an annotated ms returned to me, and a further review of revisions that I made in response to her observations for the first two chapters. Her review was not a line-by-line copy editing job, but focused on voice, character development, plot issues and the like. We also discussed the overall prospects for publication. She has also given me free incidental advice since then. This editor was recommended to me by a commercially-successful published writer. I also know another writer who provides review and editing services. She charges $1,000 and for that she will provide a five-page analysis of the manuscript, addressing writing issues as well as prospects for publication. She is on the faculty of the Gotham Writers Workshop in New York City. PM me if you would like contact information.
